Internship
Transportation Construction Inspector
Organization
New York State Department of Transportation
317 Washington St.
Watertown, NY 13601
Duties
A typical length of day is 8 hours 7 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., but there is opportunity for overtime depending on the project. Most days are spent outside on a job site where the work is being done. Every day you must write a report about what the contractor worked on and how they completed it. It is paid, and the requirements are to have 12 college credits related to engineering, or similar degree field.
Summary
The purpose of this internship is to learn about how to inspect construction sites to make sure everything is being done correctly to meet state standards. I was put on the Brownville bridge project and was able to watch many different parts of the project. This project included pouring concrete for the new bridge and building a new road leading to the bridge. Putting in drainage under the road and watching the existing road be widened to put in turning lanes. This internship allows you to work with experienced state inspectors and learn about all of what goes into these big projects. Being an environmental studies major, I was very interested in all the environmental parts of the project as well. Learning about silt logs to prevent erosion and about the proper way to dispose of excess concrete. Everything I learned will help me with my degree and help me choose a career path after I graduate.
This is one part of the State DOT, which oversees state contracted job sites. The purpose of this temporary employment is for people to be able to get hands-on experience working and learn about construction projects. There are TCI’s all over New York State overseeing many different state projects.